How Was The Show - Ghost in the Water, Laarks, The New Monarchs at Kitty Cat Klub

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The New Monarchs with Ghost in the Water and Laarks at Kitty Cat Klub on 11/15/08

Mandy of Ghost in the Water - Photo by Jenn Barnett (See full photo set from this show here.)

Dinkytown was crawling with an abundance of stumbling college students and watchful police Saturday night just as it is most weekends, and Eau Claire’s Laarks had already taken to the stage at the Kitty Cat Klub when we arrived about 10:30. Laarks is a band headed up by keyboard player Ian Jacoby. They struck me as a sort of flip side to another band with a keyboard-seated vocalist, Seymore Saves the World. But while Seymore is on the Ben Folds side of pop rock, Laarks is more in the Death Cab for Cutie, rougher-edged camp.

Up next was Ghost In the Water, the duo of Nathan and Mandy Tensen-Woolery, who music fans may remember as the same husband and wife team who also comprise Twin Cities band Fitzgerald. They had a bit of a tough row to hoe this evening as Mandy’s sister was in the hospital, and she was clearly unhappily distracted by this fact as she shared it from the stage. Helping to cheer her, given the circumstances, was a group of men dressed in suits who started to dance by the front of the stage early in Ghost in the Water’s set. The group of dancers continued to grow until a veritable dance party had broken out which would last through the rest of the night. (This crew of footloose folk ultimately turned out to be a wedding party unaffiliated with any of the bands on this evening.)

Though I had familiarity with their debut release Tooth in March of 2008 when we featured them on the HowWasTheShow podcast, it was my first time seeing Ghost in the Water live. The band sounds similar to Fitzgerald but leans away from the acoustic guitar and xylophone vibe towards more electro and synthesized sounds. Mandy sings frequently with her hands on hips, and Nathan, whether playing keyboards or guitar, does that left foot to right foot sort of back and forth dancing (you’d recognize it immediately if you saw it) that was popular in the 80s. In fact, everything about Nathan including his haircut and his Jesus and Mary Chain t-shirt were all but from another decade. All told, they had a great set.

Taylor Nelson of The New Monarchs

The New Monarchs (no relationship at all to The Monarchs who christened the Triple Rock music room a few years back) were the band that had brought me out on this cold early winter night. Recently, the band signed on with Twin Cities label Soup Bowl Records, who sent their CD several weeks ago. Their disc had lain around a while until just that afternoon when I read an email from Soup Bowl VP Brian Schwager that they were playing the Kitty Cat Saturday. Popping the CD into my player, I was immediately impressed by their taught, emotional, electro-pop rock that reminded me of early Depeche Mode and the Postal Service. (Though admittedly, they remind me sometimes too much of the Postal Service.)

The New Monarchs is a two piece group, Taylor Nelson, a guitar and effects maestro who reminded me a bit of a blonde JFK Jr.; and Sean Hogan, whose vocals on the record alternatively remind me of John Lydon from PIL, Sterling Storm from Humans, and Jonathan Wolf from Why? Together, Nelson and Hogan, with a rack of electronic effects and samplers, a couple keyboards and guitars, you don’t miss the lack of a bass player or drummer. I knew before they even started to play, that deciding if their live show was a success or not would be an easy decision. Having listened to the disc, I had a hunch it would either work or fail miserably – I couldn’t imagine much of a middle ground. I am happy to report that it worked better than I thought. The music is even more visceral and raw live than on disc. There is always a lot going on, but the sound never approaches cacophony or chaos.

The duo had just the right amount of energy and confidence to pull off an engaging live show, and they didn’t go overboard as some electronic acts sometimes do to the point where they look silly standing in front of boxes twiddling knobs while drum machines boom and prerecorded music fills the air. There were just enough live keyboard and guitar parts that the band was clearly engaged, and that feeling was contagious. And Hogan’s interaction not only with Nelson, but with the audience made this a definite live show experience. Also, at just the right time, the duo was joined by their friend Jacey for a couple songs to add some yin to their yang and a bit of female backing vocals. The crowd, which was actually quite large by now and crammed up against the stage, ate it up. By the time the band closed with the final song from their album “Hold Me Quick (I Can’t Stop)” they had definitely caught their stride, and the vibe had the whole club in its power.